Accessibility - sponsored by Universal Design Newsletter
TDI Commends FCC for Adoption of New Rules on Video Relay Service (VRS) and Quality of TV Captioning
FCC Also Rules on 2-Line Captioned Telephone Service & Spanish-ASL Translation
From: TDI tdi-online.org
Published: July 19, 2005
Silver Spring, MD—Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. commends the Federal Communications Commission for addressing telecommunications issues critical to the deaf and hard of community and taking into consideration feedback from consumer groups as it considered these issues.
The unprecedented rules issued on July 14 establish mandatory speed of answer requirements for VRS, require VRS to be offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week and permit VRS providers to be compensated for providing VRS Mail. The FCC has also initiated an assessment of the current state of closed captioning and is asking for comments on compliance and quality issues.
TDI led the effort that resulted in the July 23, 2004 joint petition filed with the Commission by a coalition of the following national organizations: Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN) , National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA) and Self Help for Hard of Hearing people (SHHH) on close captioning issues.
TDI also advocated for deaf and hard of hearing people as a member of the National Video Relay Service Coalition, of which DHHCAN and California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCASDHH) are also members, by filing a series of comments with the FCC on VRS issues throughout the last two years.
The efforts of TDI and other consumer groups have resulted in significant progress towards functional equivalency for deaf, hard of hearing and speech-disabled people.
As of July 14, the Commission established rules:
- Mandating that VRS providers meet speed of answer requirements that will be measured on a monthly basis and to be phased in on the following schedule: by January 1, 2006, VRS providers must answer 80 percent of all VRS calls within 180 seconds; by July 1, 2006, VRS providers must answer 80 percent of all VRS calls within 150 seconds; and by January 1, 2007, VRS providers must answer 80 percent of all VRS calls within 120 seconds.
- Requiring providers to offer VRS 24 hours 7 days a week in order to be eligible for compensation from the Interstate TRS Fund.
- Permitting VRS providers to be compensated from the Interstate TRS Fund for providing VRS Mail.
- Concluding that calls in which the communications assistant translates American Sign Language into spoken Spanish, and vice versa is a form of telecommunications relay service compensable from the Interstate TRS Fund.
- Clarifying that two-line captioned telephone service is a type of telecommunications relay service eligible for compensation from the Interstate TRS Fund. Two-line captioned telephone service permit the user to simultaneously listen to and read what the other person is saying.
- Initiating a proceeding to assess how effective its closed captioning rules are in ensuring that video programming is accessible to millions of deaf and hard of hearing Americans and whether any revisions should be made. The Commission is asking for comments on several compliance and quality issues relating to closed captioning.
Claude Stout, TDI Executive Director, said, “We are very pleased with the recent FCC decisions on these issues. Deaf, hard of hearing and speech disabled people are moving toward functional equivalency in telecommunications and the Commission’s commitment to fulfill the intent and letter of the Communications Act of 1934 for all Americans, including people with disabilities, supports this.”
Stout continues, “We are deeply grateful to Chairman Martin and Commissioners Abernathy, Copps and Adelstein for their unanimous vote and their full support of these ground-breaking initiatives.”
For more information contact:
Erin Casler, Public Relations & ResourceTTY: 301-589-3006
FAX: 301-589-3797
erincasler@tdi-online.org